The present invention relates to a window unit structure having sashes which are both vertically displaceable as well as horizontally pivotal inwards, thereby enhancing the ease and safety with which one is enabled to not only clean but also perform routine maintenance upon the same.
The concept of double hung window constructions having sashes mounted within a frame assembly which provides for both vertically slidable and additionally either vertically or horizontally pivotal movement of the sashes for cleaning purposes is not per se new, and is well developed in the art as is typically exemplified respectively by U.S. Pat. No. 3,184,784 to Peters dated May 25, 1965, in the case of a vertically pivotal sash or tilt window construction as it is commonly called, and by U.S. Pat. No. 3,981,101 to Guzzi dated Sep. 21, 1976, in the case of a horizontally pivotal sash construction. Considerations with respect to such window constructions however, especially in the case of a tilt window, is first it is not self supporting when profiled in the tilt configuration for purposes of cleaning and second is that if the sash after being opened to a tilt configuration is not thereafter securely returned to a closed and latched configuration it may accidentally fall open on its own accord, or say be blown open by the wind, with the consequence that if someone were standing in front of the window in the circumstance of such an accidentally opened event, they may be impacted and injured by the pivotally falling sash.
A horizontally pivotal sash construction generally avoids the foregoing inconvenience and hazard, but none-the-less it is necessary for not only safety, but also for purposes of security, that a latching assembly for locking the horizontally pivotal sash to a vertically closed profile be both adequate and reliable. Examples of prior art teachings showing latching mechanisms for the horizontally swingable sashes of a window construction of the type presently under consideration would be as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 2,104,860 to Fuchsman dated Jan. 11, 1938, as well as U.S. Pat. No. 2,165,943 to Schuler dated Jul. 11, 1939, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,890,741 to Johnson et al dated Jun. 24, 1975. In the foregoing teachings, either the mechanical facility with which a horizontally pivotal sash latch means may be released or engaged, or the durability thereof in withstanding repeated cycles of horizontally pivotal sash opening and closing, are limiting aspects of either or both the designs and structures respectively thereof.
The present invention is distinguished from the foregoing in that it approaches the vertically slidable pivotal window construction as a unitized concept in terms of overall cooperation of the various structural elements in achieving an efficient and safe design as hereinafter more specifically detailed and described.